Katie Burns, 27, of the 700 block of Shaw Avenue, was taken into custody on June 2 and arraigned before District Judge Andrea Hudak Duffy of Montgomery Township on three drug-related conspiracy charges — one graded as a felony and the other two as misdemeanors.

Duffy set bail at $50,000 cash, and Burns was committed to Montgomery County Correctional Facility after failing to post bond.

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Lansdale police said that Burns is the girlfriend of Jason Perez, 29, who — along with his cousin, Joshua Baez, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y. — was arrested on the afternoon of May 21 after Lansdale detectives and North Penn Tactical Team members, with a search warrant in hand, raided the Shaw Avenue residence where Perez was living (Burns is the primary tenant on the lease, according to detectives) following a lengthy investigation into drug sales at the location.

Police said they seized 429 bags of suspected heroin, 48 methylphenidate (the active ingredient in Ritalin) pills, three hydrocodone pills, a “small amount” of cocaine, $3,102 in U.S. currency, packaging materials, a scale and false-bottom storage containers during the raid.

Detectives said they received a tip last September that Perez was selling heroin and cocaine in the North Penn and Indian Valley areas, and got further information in April that he was dealing the drugs out of the Shaw Avenue house he was sharing with Burns.

The subsequent investigation, during which detectives conducted intensive surveillance on the residence, determined that Burns was at the home as numerous customers arrived to purchase drugs from Perez and Baez, and that Perez used multiple vehicles — three of which were registered to Burns — to stash his drugs, police said. Perez was repeatedly seen going into a green Ford Escape parked behind the residence before meeting buyers in the nearby alley, detectives said, adding that all 429 bags of heroin were found inside the Escape.

During the raid, police found Perez, Baez and Burns inside the house — Perez and Baez were arrested based on the drug transactions witnessed by law enforcement, while Burns was questioned at the scene by detectives, police said.

Burns initially told officers she knew Perez was dealing heroin and cocaine but claimed she wasn’t aware of the specifics of the operation, stating that she had never seen drugs in their house but admitting that her Ford Mustang and Dodge Caravan were both purchased with drug money, according to police.

When pressed by police about the location of drugs inside the house, Burns again stated that there were no drugs in the house but repeatedly glanced at a Clorox bottle sitting on a television stand, detectives said — upon inspecting the bottle, it was determined to have a false bottom and inside the compartment were Ritalin and hydrocodone pills.

Investigators also found $2,000 cash hidden in the ceiling of the basement, where Burns and Perez sleep, police said.

After discovering the hundreds of bags of heroin — along with packaging materials and a scale — in the Ford Escape, police said they confronted Burns with the find and she admitted she knew Perez used the Escape as a stash vehicle and revealed that he also used her Mustang as a stash vehicle.

Detectives said that further investigation in the days after Perez’s and Baez’s arrests indicated that Perez also used a residence on the 200 block of West Sixth Street in Lansdale as a stash house — he had been seen going to that building during surveillance, police said — and that Burns was far more involved in the drug operation than she had let on to police.

“Burns knowingly and willingly assisted Perez during his drug operation and she financially benefited from Perez’s drug activity,” said Lansdale police, adding that she was involved in “all aspects” of the drug sales.

Burns is due in District Judge Harold Borek’s Lansdale courtroom on June 12 for a preliminary hearing.

Meanwhile, on June 3, Perez and Baez both waived their preliminary hearings before Borek, and their cases now move to county court.

Perez is facing 20 criminal counts in all, including two counts of felony possession with intent to distribute, two counts of felony conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, eight counts of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, four counts of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, and four counts of misdemeanor conspiracy to possess drug paraphernalia.

Baez, meanwhile, is facing a dozen criminal counts, including two counts of felony possession with intent to distribute, two counts of felony conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, two counts each of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor conspiracy to possess a controlled substance, and four counts of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

As part of their waiver deal, Borek agreed to lower Perez’s bail — which he set at $150,000 cash at the May 22 preliminary arraignments for both men — to $99,000, and to lower Baez’s bail from $100,000 to $99,000.

The modification allows both Perez and Baez to have more preferential housing and work assignments inside the county jail while they await their formal arraignments in Norristown, which are scheduled for July 16.

Though he lamented that heroin remains “an epidemic” in the North Penn area, Lansdale Detective Sgt. Mike Trail said at the time of Perez’s and Baez’s arrests that the raid was “a significant seizure of heroin...[that] will, for the time being, make a dent in the heroin trade in our community.”

A Lansdale police Street Crimes Unit detective said Wednesday morning that no further arrests are to come in connection with the matter and that the case is effectively closed.